Judy Jones v. Jeff Rogers, No. 18-2830 (8th Cir. 2019)

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Court Description: Per Curiam. Before Loken, Wollman, and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil Case - civil rights. Civil rights claims against county attorneys for filing criminal charges, later dismissed, were properly barred by absolute immunity. Reckless investigation claims were time-barred, as there was no continuing violation. Manufactured evidence claim was properly dismissed for failure to state a factually plausible claim. Conspiracy claim properly dismissed because underlying claims failed.

This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on October 29, 2019.

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United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 18-2830 ___________________________ Judy K. Jones lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant v. Steven Bowers, et al. lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Nebraska - Omaha ____________ Submitted: November 19, 2019 Filed: November 22, 2019 [Unpublished] ____________ Before LOKEN, WOLLMAN, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Judy Jones appeals the district court’s1 orders dismissing her 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims arising from the midwife care she provided to a Nebraska infant who died 1 The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp, United States District Judge for the District of Nebraska. shortly after birth. Jones filed the complaint after criminal charges against her were dismissed in state court. She alleged that County Attorneys Steven Bowers and Glenn Clark violated her Fourteenth Amendment rights by filing, without probable cause, criminal charges of manslaughter and practicing medicine without a license. We agree with the district court that these claims were barred by absolute immunity. See Sample v. City of Woodbury, 836 F.3d 913, 916 (8th Cir. 2016). In an amended complaint, Jones alleged that investigating Nebraska State Patrol officers Jeff Rogers and Chris Kober violated her Fourteenth Amendment rights by recklessly investigating, manufacturing evidence, and participating in a civil conspiracy. On appeal, Jones argues the district court erred in dismissing the reckless investigation claims as time-barred because she was the victim of a continuing violation; we agree with the district court that “Jones’s argument that she continuously suffered harm . . . does not make it a continuing violation.” We further agree that Jones did not plead a factually plausible claim of manufactured evidence because the amended complaint did not specify the allegedly false information. The conspiracy claim was properly dismissed because the underlying constitutional claims failed. See Riddle v. Riepe, 866 F.3d 943, 949 (8th Cir. 2017). Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is affirmed. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. ______________________________ -2-

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